St. Charles North opens PHT with 66-58 win

Thursday

Dec 27, 2012 at 10:59 AMDec 27, 2012 at 11:18 AM

St. Charles North claims first game of 82nd Pontiac Holiday Tournament

Erich Murphy

St. Charles North opened the 82nd Pontiac Holiday Tournament with a 66-58 victory over Waukegan Thursday morning. The North Stars will take on the winner of Game 2's matchup between third-seed Aurora West and Lockport. SCN was able to outrun the Bulldogs in the early going in a high-scoring opening period. The Stars were up 18-16 after one. The tempo slowed a bit in the second as Waukegan outscored SCN 9-8 to trail 26-24 at the break. The North Stars and Waukegan were still in a tight battle until midway through the second half, when St. Charles North opened up a 50-39 advantage at one point. Quinten Payne did not disappoint as the Loyola signee put down the tournament's first dunk in the opening frame. He finished with a game-high 22 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in leading St. Charles North. Alex Goetz threw in 16 points, Justin Stanko added 11 points and Tony Neari collected 10 points and 9 boards. DeVonte Taylor had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Jordan Johnson chipped in 18 points and Jachai Taylor snared 10 caroms.